Archive for the ‘2012 – 00 – Planning’ Category

For the past few weeks, I have missed adventuring. That isn’t to say that I have been sedentary. Actually, far from it! Since my last posts, I have done quite a few things. I gave up soda for Lent; I went to my first baby shower; I began working out five days a week; I drove to Chicago to help a friend move to Minneapolis.

However, these were all things that sort of happened naturally. Yes, they were amazing and enjoyable and I had put forth a great spirit and vibrancy to them. But the lone fact that I didn’t consider them to be a part of my “Year of 52 Adventures” just didn’t make them feel quite as alive for some reason.

I am sure this is all a psychological freak out in my head, but it made me want to adventure again. So here I am! Attempting to finish what I started just over five months ago.

I have a lot of catching up to do. Therefore, this may be the busiest, craziest summer ever. But I think I can cope with that idea.

In order to make up for the lost ground, I will have to do multiple adventures during many weeks. Therefore, from now on, instead of marking my posts based on the week they took place, they will be titled based on which Adventure Number they represent. Not that you care; just a matter of housekeeping.

Alright party people; I know what my first three adventures are going to be…but you won’t find out until I post about them 🙂

However, I want some help choosing my fourth adventure! This is something I thought I would do to help keep things more random and, well, adventurous! I will let you decide what I’m going. Here is a poll of four possible things that I could do. For the most part, I will follow whatever gets the most votes. But if someone can leave a very convincing comment as to why I should do one or the other, I may listen…

Not all of the possible answers are terribly exciting. But I am currently poor and need to save money for adventures, bills, possible road trip, and trying to be my lady’s sugar daddy. I am failing at that last one.

As I was compiling my list of adventures that I could take in the coming 52 weeks, I realized that even though I haven’t been doing them regularly or blogging about them, I still have been living a nice life of adventure since my last post in April 2010. So, a quick recap of the last bit of my life…

I overcame my fear of horses in late May, 2010:

I got married August 7th, 2010:

I went skydiving in early October, 2010:

I went on a zombie pub crawl in late October, 2010:

I tailgated MANY University of Minnesota gopher football games during the 2010 season:

Went on a Mega Bus adventure to Chicago in January 2011:

Went to a professional rodeo looking like this in early February 2011:

Went on a snowboarding weekend to Lutsen, MN in late February 2011

Went on my honeymoon and got to pet a penguin in April of 2011:

Took a tequila shot with a SCORPION INSIDE OF IT in June of 2011:

Got a geek tattoo:

Got foul line, first row seats to a Minnesota Twins game on September 20th, 2011:

Well, that is about it. I am pretty sure I did some exciting stuff after September of 2011 (such as brewed my own beer!) but I can’t find any sweet pictures to go with it. But looking back at what I’ve done, I’m excited to see what will happen in the future 🙂

When I attempted this last year, I came up with a wide-ranging list of adventures. I think in total, I only did 12 adventures. 12 out of 52. Twenty-three percent. That kind of sucks.

So here, I look back at the original list of adventures that I didn’t complete as well as some new ones. The list is currently well over 50, so I hopefully will be able to achieve my goal! But please, suggest new stuff anyway! The more ideas I have, the less likely I am to fail. Also, PLEASE join me! Adventures aren’t as fun alone.

Food and Fitness

Make a five-course dinner for a party of eight people

Go to one of those classes where you cook meals that can last you a week

Give up caffeine for a week

Give up soda for at least a month

Be vegetarian for a week and make all of my own meals

Run a 5K

Climb a mountain

….find a mountain to climb

Canoe a long stretch of river

Stop just watching The Biggest Loser and start being the Biggest Loser

Take some form of fitness classes (thinking yoga) two-three times a week for a month

Ride a bike for some crazy long length of time, like 50 miles or something

Find a plethora of new, delicious restaurants that are off the beaten path

Go to a wine-tasting…and hopefully enjoy it

Join an intramural team of some kind?

Eat a worm, ala the children’s book

Twin Cities and Minnesota

Go sail boating on Lake Calhoun

Go to Al’s Breakfast

Go to a sports event that I normally don’t

Go dog-sledding up in northern Minnesota

Take my lady for a night on the town that isn’t simply dinner and a movie

Donate blood two or three times this year (can’t start until July due my getting a tattoo last year)

Take an early-American skills class at Fort Snelling (maybe blacksmith?)

Pick apples at an orchard

ROAD TRIP!

Be a Minnesota Twins season ticket holder’

Go on more brewery tours (maybe find a distillery too?)

Take a photo with every Peanuts statue in the Twin Cities in a single weekend!

Crazy or Relaxing

Look fear in the face and win (aka – whales)

Get a tattoo with a group of friends

Learn to dance

Spend a day watching classic films

Get hypnotized

Defeat all Mega Man NES and SNES games within one week

Watch a butt-load of Ken Burns documentaries

Babysit for at least three of my friends children for free

Get duct-taped to the ceiling

Man-power

Listening day (no talking)

Shut-it-off day (no electricity)

Get more involved with my friends lives and show them I care

Don’t spend any money for a week

Creative Outles

Create and send postcards to long lost friends

Actually finish and publish (if only online) one of my stories

Maybe send one of the stories to an actual publisher

Learn to play Legend of Zelda songs on the recorder I bought three years ago

Try to put together that “Crazy Kids Sayings” book I have compiled notes on’

Buy a type-writer, and use it to write letters to all of my family members

Also type out thank you notes to people who’ve influenced me in my life

Make photography inspired, or other unique, birthday cards for people

Out and About

Go to a high school sporting events and cheer loudly

Go to a Minnesota Wild game (have never been, and I LOVE hockey!)

Go to a professional baseball game at a stadium I’ve never been to

Plan an amazing bachelor party (watch out, Trevor)

Go to live dog or horse race

Attend a film festival

Get all snazzy and go to the ballet, opera, or some such event

Volunteer at a shelter or something

Go to a museum

Go to a non-Valley Fair amusement park

Attend a religious service of a religion not my own

Go to a beer festival (maybe Bockfest in New Ulm, Feb 18th, 2012)

Attend some kind of comic book / sci fi / geek convention…dressed up

Visit a friend in a far away city

Visit something crazy and ridiculous, such as “Largest Ball of Twine”

Visit another country (probably Canada)

In my eyes, my list so far is pretty varied and fun. But please, let me know what you think of these ideas. Also, feel free to invite yourself along on them. Or tell me new ones I should do (whether solo or with you).

I am not sure what my first adventure will be. But I need to complete it by Saturday night, post it by Sunday night. That is the deadline I am making for myself. Finish by the Saturday, post by the Sunday.

A good friend of mine, that I truly don’t talk with enough, has convinced me and several others to have another year full of adventures. Some of you may know or remember, but I did this thing in 2010 with her and several other people called The Year of 52 Adventures. And it was bomb. I will admit that I didn’t complete the full year, which is sad, and kind of obvious due to my last post being in April of that year.

But this past New Year’s Eve, I was looking around on the interwebs for a good quote to post about this new year of 2012 (which I don’t believe will be the last, cause Marty McFly went to the year 2015, and since when has Back to the Future led me astray?). The quote I found was by one of my favorite bands of all time – Incubus. “Kiss your lover’s lips, and know that fate is what you make it of.”

When I first read it, I chose it for the, “Kiss your lover’s lips…” line, cause that’s what you do when the clock strikes midnight. But then I started thinking about it…this past year wasn’t my best. I wasn’t the best student at graduate school, probably hurt my friends at times, and I know I for sure had my failures as a husband.

But you know what? Fate really is just what you make of it. If there is one thing I learned growing up, it was that I was the best around. Nothing’s gonna ever keep me down (sweep the leg)! I need to start believing in that. And not in a cocky, broseph kind of way. But in a realistic “Why can’t I achieve what I want if I put my heart and effort into it” kind of a way.

I’m a big believer in gestures, in the feeling, meaning, and spirit behind something often being more important than how the actual events transpire. And I believe that this kind of a declaration of myself can help me get over that personal hump and start taking steps towards being a more awesome kind of person; the kind I want to be.

Let’s go. Let’s get it started. And in the words of Matrim Cauthon, “Let’s roll the dice.”